USS Nimitz Berths in Rio for Southern Seas 2026 on Final Overseas Tour

Overview

• The U.S. carrier, which arrived Thursday, is moored on a mobile pier near Ilha Fiscal through May 14 for Operation Southern Seas 2026.
• Brazil’s naval nuclear regulator, SecNSNQ, ran radiation tests on the surrounding water and brought reporters aboard a patrol boat to observe the monitoring.
• Planned PASSEX drills and technical exchanges from May 11 to 14 will pair the carrier group with Brazil’s frigates Independência and Defensora, the submarine Tikuna, and Super Lynx helicopters.
• The U.S. 4th Fleet leads the multinational exercise with roughly ten Latin American navies, and the destroyer USS Gridley is sailing with the Nimitz-led group.
• The visit forms part of the Nimitz’s last international deployment before retirement and dismantling, drawing notice to its scale, nuclear propulsion, and the South Atlantic focus known in Brazil as the ‘Blue Amazon.’